ChineseGrammarWiki/ancien/Chinese-Grammar-Wiki/MD/B1.old/Grammar-wiki-B1-138.txt.html

<p>When describing spatial relationships, the words 之间 (zhījiān) and 中间 (zhōngjiān) will come in handy to express the concepts of &quot;between&quot; and &quot;among.&quot; Both have a few particular uses, though.</p>
<h2 id="both-can-mean-in-the-middle">Both can mean &quot;in the middle&quot;</h2>
<p>Grammatically, both 之间 and 中间 are nouns (<a href="location_noun" title="wikilink">location nouns</a>, to be precise). One difference between the two, however, is that 中间 can be used all by itself, but 之间 is always used together with other words.</p>
<h3 id="between-two-points-in-space">Between two points in space</h3>
<p>之间 and 中间 can both refer to a space &quot;in the middle&quot; between two points, as long as we're talking about physical space. So between Shanghai and Beijing, between my eyes, between the psychotic monkey and the enraged elephant, etc.</p>
<h4 id="structure">Structure</h4>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Noun 1 + 和 + Noun 2 + 之间／中间</p>
</div>
<h4 id="examples">Examples</h4>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>上海 在 江苏省 和 浙江省 <em>之间</em> 。 <span class="trans">Shanghai is between Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province.</span></li>
<li>在沙发和桌子<em>之间</em>有一只猫。 <span class="trans">There's a cat between the sofa and the table.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="for-time-and-number-ranges-use-之间">For time and number ranges use 之间</h3>
<p>This usage refers to examples like &quot;between 8am and 3pm&quot; or &quot;a number between 32 and 51.&quot;</p>
<h4 id="structure-1">Structure</h4>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Time 1 + 和 + Time 2 + 之间</p>
</div>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Number 1 + 和 + Number 2 + 之间</p>
</div>
<h4 id="examples-1">Examples</h4>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>你 需要 在 八 点 到 十 点 <em>之间</em> 来 。 <span class="trans">You need to come between 8:00 and 10:00.</span></li>
<li>3月 到 7月 <em>之间</em> 是 旅游 的 好 时间 。 <span class="trans">Betwen March and July is a good time to travel.</span></li>
<li>上海 的 外国人 数量 在 17 万 到 20 万 <em>之间</em> 。 <span class="trans">There are between 170,000 and 200,000 foreigners in Shanghai.</span></li>
<li>上海 的 外星人 数量 在 170 到 200 <em>之间</em> 。 <span class="trans">There are between 170 and 200 extraterrestrials in Shanghai.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="for-describing-location-within-an-object-use-中间">For describing location within an object, use 中间</h3>
<p>This &quot;within&quot; could be &quot;inside&quot; a space (like inside a house, or inside a refrigerator), and is similar to 里面 except that it is also centered in the space (with regards to the sides, but not height). But it can also mean &quot;in the middle of&quot; a two-dimensional physical space, like in the middle (center) of a table, or in the middle of the screen.</p>
<p>You can't use 之间 in this way.</p>
<h4 id="structure-2">Structure</h4>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Noun + (的 +) 中间</p>
</div>
<h4 id="examples-2">Examples</h4>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>房子 的 <em>中间</em> 有 一 个 大 桌子 。 <span class="trans">In the middle of the apartment there's a table.</span></li>
<li>我 在 这 一 排 座位 的 <em>中间</em> 。 <span class="trans">I'm in the middle of this row of seats.</span></li>
<li>把 花 放 在 桌子 <em>中间</em> 。 <span class="trans">Put the flowers in the middle of the table.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="other-uses-of-之间">Other uses of 之间</h2>
<h3 id="之间-can-be-used-to-indicate-relationships">之间 can be used to indicate relationships</h3>
<p>The idea is that the relationship is &quot;between two people,&quot; and the &quot;between&quot; is indicated by 之间. This usage of 之间 can also refer to relationships between a person and a company, two companies, two countries, etc.</p>
<p>You can't use 中间 in this way.</p>
<h4 id="structure-3">Structure</h4>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Noun 1 + 和 + Noun 2 + 之间</p>
</div>
<p>In the structure above, Noun 1 and Noun 2 are frequently people.</p>
<h4 id="examples-3">Examples</h4>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>父母 和 孩子 <em>之间</em> 应该 多 交流 。 <span class="trans">There should be plenty of communication between parents and children.</span></li>
<li>我们 公司 ， 同事 <em>之间</em> 的 关系 很 复杂 。 <span class="trans">The relationships between our company and its employees are quite complex.</span></li>
<li>中美 <em>之间</em> 还 有 很 多 问题 需要 解决 。 <span class="trans">There are a lot of issues between China and the USA which need to be resolved.</span></li>
<li>我们 <em>之间</em> 什么 话 都 说 。 <span class="trans">The two of us can talk about anything.</span></li>
<li>你 要 学 会 处理 上下 级 <em>之间</em> 的 关系 。 <span class="trans">You need to learn to handle the relationships between superiors and subordinates.</span></li>
<li>国家 <em>之间</em> 的 政治 关系 受 经济 的 影响 很 大 。 <span class="trans">The effect of economics on the relationship between the two countries is significant.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="other-uses-of-中间">Other uses of 中间</h2>
<h3 id="中间-can-also-mean-among">中间 can also mean &quot;among&quot;</h3>
<p>中间 is used when referring to one (or more) &quot;among many.&quot;</p>
<h4 id="structure-4">Structure</h4>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Noun + (的 +) 中间</p>
</div>
<h4 id="examples-4">Examples</h4>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>你们 <em>中间</em> 有 会 唱歌 的 吗 ？ <span class="trans">Can anyone among you sing?</span></li>
<li>这些 人 <em>中间</em> 只 有 一 个 我 认识 。 <span class="trans">Among these people, there's only one I know.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="中间-can-be-used-as-part-of-other-words">中间 can be used as part of other words</h3>
<p>中间 is a noun, and can combine with other nouns to create a number of fairly common verbs.</p>
<h4 id="structure-5">Structure</h4>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>中间 + Noun</p>
</div>
<h4 id="examples-5">Examples</h4>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li><em>中间</em>人 <span class="trans">intermediary (lit. &quot;middle person&quot;)</span></li>
<li><em>中间</em>商 <span class="trans">broker (lit. &quot;middle business&quot;)</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further reading</h2>
<h3 id="books">Books</h3>
<h3 id="dictionaries">Dictionaries</h3>
<p>  </p>
<p><a href="Category:grammar_comparison" title="wikilink">Category:grammar comparison</a></p>